Overview

Wall Street is the name of a street in lower Manhattan running east from Broadway downhill to the East River. As for why the street is called Wall Street, in the 17th century the wall formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement erected for defensive purposes. Now the term encompasses all business directly related to stock exchanges and the financial market. In this guide you will find listed older books which provide a picture of Wall Street at the time each book was written.

There are two terms that are often used to describe market trends, Bull Market and Bear Market. A Bull Market is one in which investors are optimistic and are trading securities heavily. There is even a bronze sculpture of a charging bull that has become a popular tourist attraction. A Bear Market is one in which investors are not as confident and securities trading is down.

If you want to know about the specific exchanges, we do have finding aids on the history of both: the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange/NASDAQ.

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